techknow... every saturday, go where science meets humanity... >> this is some of the best driving i've ever done... even though i can't see. >> techknow... >> we're here in the vortex... only on al jazeera america > this is al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton in new york. let's get you caught up on the top stories this hour. there's no hope for finding survivors in afghanistan's massive land slide. efforts to help the 4,000 who survived, but have nothing. anger in ukraine and calls for an investigation after deaths of dozens of pro-russian activists in a building set on fire. a diplomatic move by condo

leesa rice who bowed out of a college speech. and a look at journalist around the world. >> tonight the focus in the northern afghanistan landslide shifts. the search is called off after rescue workers are lost in another landslide. 2,000 are feared dead. now to helping the thousands left homeless. more from the badakhshan disaster. >> reporter: mass prayer for a mass grave. the afghan villages gave up on finding survivors. now they just want to locate the bod yes of family and friends -- bodies of families and forehands. the focus has shifted to thousands that lost their homes. >> translation: i'm a survivor.

right now we need tents. 700 houses are under threat of flooding and rand slides. there are -- landslides. there are fleers of floods -- fears of floods because there are four valleys where water can flow in. if that happens we'll be underwater. >> digging machines are being brought in. >> seven members of my family were here. four or survive were killed here. i'm half alive. what can i do? >> days ofs rain in nearby -- of rain in north-eastern badakhshan caused this mountain to collapse mud and rocks destroyed everything in its way. hundreds of homes were varied. volunteers from nearby villages came to the remote areas with tools and shovels to help rescuers. >> we in the international organization have been bringing blankets and household items. there's a number of ngas

bringing items such as tents, food, hygiene supplies and so farth. >> it's been hard for emergency teams to reach the site. narrow roads have been damaged by rain, and can't take the heavy machinery. the hillside is unstable, adding to fears another part may cave in. >> now to ukraine where civil war looms. the military is stepping up its offensive against pro-russian rebels in the east, and the conflict is spreading to other parts of the country. seven european observers held by separatists have been freed in eastern ukraine. it comes a day after fighting in odessa where dozens of pro-russian activists were killed, many in a fiery clash. today the city held visuals to mem rate the dead. we have the latest from the eastern cities. >> the burning scpars debris which littered the treats were

evidence of what looked like a day of heavy fighting between ukranian soldiers and pro-russian separatists. vehicles and tyres became barricades, set alight to keep government troops at bay. >> translation: there are a lot of victims from both sides - from the civilians and the fighters. people going to work were injured. there are a lot of injured and dead. they were shooting at buildings from the tnts for half an hour. >> a stockpile of petrol bombs were on hand. it didn't stop the vaps of armoured -- advance of armoured vehicles. ukranian checkpoints are controlling traffic in and out. not all traffic has been halted. after eight days a convoy carrying a team of o.s.c.e. observers made it through. on a roadside they embraced freedom with an overpowering sense of relief.

a carefully organised handover bringing an end to their capture. >> you can't imagine the happiness, deep relief. the situation was really tough. over the last two nights, as we saw the situation developing, every minute gets longer. and finally with the cooperation of all the key players it went perfectly. thank you very much. >> the men looked calm but tired. their captivity and their nerves was obvious to see. they reason detained by the self-proclaimed mayor of slovyansk, vyacheslav panamaryov. the released men said vyacheslav panamaryov kept his promise to protect them from harm. documents who netted the released any other outcome was unthinkable. >> taking people working for international organizations as

hostages is unanticipatible. it was extremely important to get through this mission. >> the mission was made for intricate by the ukranian military offensive ongoing against pro-russian militia. there has been fears fighting near kramatorsk. ukranian military personnel began by attacking a pro-russian checkpoint. a tv tower has been recaptured. organising a handover in this environment was far from straightforward. >> it has taken days of delicate negotiations to reach this point, including the final say from a self-styled mayor of slovyansk. the me, and the o.s.c.e. are now free. as you can see, returning home. now to odessa, where there's sorrow and anger after dozens of

pro-russian separatists died during an attack. jonah hull reports. >> reporter: after appalling events in odessa when a peaceful march became a riot and then an inferno, prayers are held outside a trade union building in which dozens burned or suffocated to death. many jumped, some to their deaths. others perished inside, as they traded gun fire and molotov cocktails with a rifle crowd outside. so-called pro-russians clashing with pro-kiev or pro-unity demonstrators. despite accusations of direct foreign involvement, most are fellow citizens on opposite warring sides. >> translation: stop killing our people, please, stop killing our people. >> the police, many say, did nothing to stop or prevent the violence. >> reporter: what happened here on friday night was the single

most deadly incident since the killing of protesters on independence square in late february. opposing sides in ukraine are forming more clearly with every passing day, and the divide twep them is growing. >> on the square i met a lower from odessa what feels his country is falling apart. >> i'm terribly upset, very angry with what happened yesterday. i can explain. it was just - it was just the crowd of people, people died because they felt the other opinion, than other people have in kiev. >> in a hospital where the injured lay, i met an 18-year-old student who believes in the future. >> translation: we are all people. we all want to live well, create conditions in ukraine that is good for everyone. >> for many that hope is fading, as deadly violence and hardening

attitudes move from the east of ukraine to the south. the u.s. state department is offering to help find the 300 going girls abducted in nigeria. it's been more than two weeks since the school girls were taken, and frustrated parents called on the government to seek assistance from other countries. there were rallies in the u.s., in support of the missing girls. dozens of people gathered in washington d.c. they say the government is not doing enough to help find the children. a rally was held in wisconsin. >> we don't know what it is. the government is not doing everything. everyone else is talking about this, except the government. it's like why is 234 lives not important to them to do something about it. we are tired of the silence. >> secretary of state john kerry called the abduction a crime. at least three people have been killed in kenya in two separate explosions. the attacks took place in

mombassa. an unidentified person threw graen aids into a -- grenades into a crowded mini bus. no one claimed responsibility for the attacks. >> in somalia a bomb killed at least seven people, including a prominent politician. it went off in kagisso, mogale. a government -- in mogadishu. no one claimed responsibility. >> former secretary of state condoleezza rice says she's declining an invitation to appear at a commencement. students waged a campaign to uninvite rice. objecting to the role that she played in the iraq war as a member of the bush administration. rice announced her decision on facebook saying:

>> campus officials responded saying:. the n.b.a. made the next play towards seizing control of the l.a. clippers basketball team, announcing that they will appoint a new chief executive officer to supervise the team's day-to-day operations. this week clipper's owner donald sterling was banned for life from the n.b.a. after recording racially charged comments. >> coming up next on al jazeera america, we take a deeper look at world press freedom day - a day that hits close to home for al jazeera america. >> here what a judge told our colleagues being detained in egypt after the break. >> plus, on the trail of mers, a potentially deadly disease in

the middle east has turned up in the midwest. we'll tell you what you need to know.

welcome back. it's world press freedom day, and we are taking a deeper look at the challenges facing journalists around the world. this map is telling. according to freedom house the countries highlighted in yellow have the highest amount of press freedom, where journalists feel the safest. the countries highlighted in blue are classified as partly free and in red not free, places where journalists may feel their lives are in danger. courtney kealy has more. >> reporter: at the u.n. security council ambassadors from great britain and russia called for attacks on journalists to stop. >> translation: we are concerned about reports of abduction and journalist from east ukraine. >> translation: to swiftly halt operation, to free political prisoners, ensure full freedom for journalists.

this would be a genuine process of deescalation. >> david rhode kidnapped by the taliban in 2008 and held for seven months in pakistan knows the dangers journalist face. >> as scary as the egyptian, russian, turkish governments blaming terrorists for telling the truth trying to say they are responsible for the country's problems, when they are not. >> turkey, iran and china account for more than half prisoners around the world. 30 top the list with more than 30 imprisoned since 2013. bail has been denied again for three al jazeera journalists held for over four months, another has been held in prison since august. >> reporter: world press freedom day was established many years ago, part of the goal to pay tribute to journalists that risked or lost their lives doing

their jobs. >> 70 journalists were killed in 2013, 74 the year before. combined, they are the two most deadly years. at the end of 2013, 211 journalists were in gaol that. is below the record of 232 which was recorded at the end of 2012. >> a recent panel in honour of world press day detailed dangers faced. >> this is true in iraq, the most deadly conflict we documented. it's true in mexico where drug cartels and organised criminals released unprecedented onsloughts of violence. it's true in pakistan where leading television presenters survived assassination attempts. and is true in syria where the risk of death is compounded by the scourge of kidnapping. rhodes points out local

journalists are at risk. >> in my opinion out of 10 attacks are local journalists, usually those exposing corruption and challenge deposit officials. in my opinion out of the 10 cases are not prosecuted when journalists are attacked or killed. >> 90% of all murders, according to the committee to protect journalists go unsolved. >> moments ago while speaking at the white house correspondents dinner in washington, president obama mentioned the riseningy work journal -- risky work journalists do. >> tonight reminds us that we are lucky to live in a country where reporters give head of state a hard time on a daily basis, and once a year give him or her a chance to return the favour. we note not every journalist, crew member is so fortunate. as we celebrate our thoughts are in maces around the globe like

ukraine, afghanistan, syria and egypt, who risk everything. in some cases giving their lives to report the news. >> i spoke to karin karlekar, the project manager of the freedom of press project at freedom house. >> as the methods for spreading news and information have grown with the internet and new media governments are becoming more aware of the participation of the mediums and are trying to control and clamp down on the message. they are trying to control con tent and attacking the messenger. >> what is the biggest threat to press freedoms, governments, freedom groups. >> the government has been the biggest threat. we see that in terms of laws and attacks on journalists. they are key methods for restricting the weres. in the last few -- the press, in the last few years, groups are helping to restrict the press.

>> how interrelated are freedom of press and country progress. >> i would say they are quite related. there's a strong correlation in many countries between levels of press freedom and the strength of a democracy and sort of looking at anti-corruption, transparency, accountability and economic growth. in most countries there's a strong correlation. >> we saw a moment ago about our colleagues detained in egypt. but i want to look at other countries, turkey arrested 40 journalist in 2013, rarninging number one. iran 35, and china a close 3rd. would you say the detention of journalists led to an increase. >> definitely. the numbers show the level of journalists arrested and in gaol rose to it record proportions and this is a key measure to leading the press.

it's a worrying development. >> what about serious journalism? >> that's provided an opening. instead of having professional journalists, you have people just taking pictures on the cell phones and sending them. it led to a big opening, and a crackdown on the people. a lot of people are in gaol for writing a tweet. we see the new media, citizen journalists are subject to the same restrictions. >> how much of an influence has western journalism had on certain parts of the world? >> it's a key influence. in restricted countries international media and foreign news outlets play a key role in opening the media environment and bringing the stories out. what we see is a crack down on foreign journalists, countries like china and africa. >> how much has social media changed the influence? >> tremendously. social media is getting the stories out more quickly to a

global audience. the recent arrest of nine bloggers in ethiopia was broadcast around the world. there are crackdowns on this space. >> is there a downside when it comes to social media? >> it's an immediate form. there's not the level of fact checking or accuracy that goes on that you would have in a professional outlet. it helps to spread the words, but in terms of accuracy of information, there's a role for professional journalists. >> i want to talk about our colleagues detained in egypt. several of our own al jazeera journalists have been detained. they were able to get letters out to us describe the situation. here is one from our producer mohamed fadel fahmy.

. >>, "to silence me and my colleagues on the pretext that we are a threat to national security and members of a terrorist organization is an insult to the intelligence of egyptian people and the democracy promoted in the newly ratified constitution. during the previous court hearing i stood provoked in the cage as i watched the all-too familiar press pack being expelled from the court. one diligent reporter yelled a question to me on his way out - are the hunger strikes real?" yes, dozens of prisoners enduring weeks of hunger strikes are nobel men with no other way to express. among those abdullah al-shami, the al jazeera arabic journalist

who has been on hunger strike for weeks and lost more than 30 kgs. it is a breach. human rights. i see into better occasion than today to remind the world about the plight of the men and that there are dozens of reported reporters and citizen journalist in prison. they are prisoners of conscience. the world will be watching closely. . journalists held for 126 cases, here is stefanie dekker with more on the deteption of our cole -- detention of our colleagues. >> reporter: their seventh appearance in court ended like all the others - bail denied. mohamed fadel fahmy was briefly allowed out of the caming to address the judge -- cage to address the judge u and tried to explain that journalists need to explore all sides of a journey.

>> translation: for me communication with the muslim brotherhood, the wasat party or the naerty or anyone else is something routine for me. i work hard to get an interview with an officer, i work hard to reach my sources. that is what journalists do. >> saturday is world press freedom day, our three colleagues shouted out happy press freedom day. >> it's ironic that we are here in court for peter's trial on world press freedom day. and we have seen another adjournment. it's getting increasingly difficult for us as a family and the guys inside to endure the process. >> a fourth al jazeera journalist abdullah al-shami will remain in detention for another 45 days. he's been held without charge and been on hunger strike for over 100 days. he has lost over 35 kilo and has not received medical attention.

>> this is unprecedented. we have not seen in globally, a government going after an international news network for nothing more than doing their work and using terrorist-related charges to keep them in custody without evidence. >> journal lifts are founding it difficult to work in egypt. >> personally as a reporter it's been harder to go down and cover street protests, to cover acts of dissent. it is a greater risk. you are at a greater risk of being swept up in a mass arrest, and being lost in the prison system. >> there are many journalists, activists and protesters held without charge in egyptian gaols. >> the prosecution rested its cas on saturday. the defense will have a chance to have its say. the network denies all charges against it staff and denies their n conditional release.

>> karin karlekar joins us again, authoring a report on press freedoms. 126 days detained. what do you make of this? >> this is one of the most egregious cases. these journalists are trying to cover all sides, they basically were arrested and thrown in gaol for trying to do their jobs. they are accused of terrorism for trying to cover all sides of the story. >> a producer had to explain to the judge about journalism. are you surprised by this. i was very surprised. it was astounding to me that he had to explain the basic tenants to a judge. the fact it happened on world press freedom day is ironic. it's a sign much back sliding in egypt and oppression against journalists. >> what is the take away. will it shed new light on press freedoms. >> it's amazing the outpouring of solidarity about the

journalists. it's encouraging. it has helped shine a light on the conditions around the world, and as i said, this is an agrajous case, but not the only one. the campaign has been amazing. >> an important issue on an important day. karin karlekar, promote manager at freedom house. thank you for your time. secretary of state john kerry is in the middle of his trip to several african countries, and arrived in the democratic republic of congo. in addition to meeting with the had of the u.n. peacekeeping mission he visited a company specialising in health care products, a business run by women. >> it's a wonderful example of entre prenerrial activities, the level of independent initiative taking an enterprise and going at it, making something happen. we want this to happen over the democratic republic of congo, over africa. we want to grow young people who

are the future to create jobs, have their own businesses. >> earlier in the day secretary of state john kerry met with joseph kabila about recent security successes in eastern congo. tomorrow for the regular week ahead segment. we'll look at the fighting that displaced a million people. don't forget to join us at 8:30 pm eastern. >> australia has plenty of sun shine, why are millions of its citizens defirpt in vitamin c. >> i'm kaelyn forde in new york. where one. expensive clean-ups in history is getting under

welcome back to al jazeera america. let's get you up to date on the top stories. emergency cruise ended their search for survivors in the cland slide after rescue workers were lost in another slide. more than 2,000 are feared dead. the focus now on helping 4,000 afghans left homeless.

several european mediators have been freed. the government is stepping up it military campaign to retake some strong holds in the east. the u.s. state department is offering to help nigeria find 300 school girls kidnapped. frustrated parents have been pressing the nigerian government to do more. protests in d.c. called on washington to do more. doctors in indiana are treating the first case of m.e.r.s. a health worker returning from saudi arabia has contracted the disease. >> reporter: health care officials are scrambling to retravel the same route as a man who tested positive for the deadly m.e.r.s. virus. he is a health care worker that returned from saudi arabia. he left rhiad, connected through

london's health roe and landed in -- heathrow and landed in chicago. he took a bus to indiana, and fell sick, ending in hospital. fatality rates are high, but the risk of an outbreak is low. >> there has not been a clear case of person to person transmission outside of the health care setting. so i think we need to keep this in perspective. >> health officials say the violence originated in the middle east, to come else and european countries, it's estimated to have infected 600 people, roulting in 200 -- resulting in 200 deaths. there's no treatment, cure or vaccination. >> the vast majority of cases was in the middle east. it can progress fast and has a case fatality rate, a percentage of folks that have the infection, that die, is 30%.

contrast to 1% for the seasonal flu, and you get a good idea how severe the respiratory infection can be. >> stephen morse is a professor of epidemiology at columbian university of mailman's school of public health and explained the symptoms to me. >> it starts as a flu-like illness and is a respiratory disease. so it starts out with flu-like symptoms, fever, chill, diarrhoea and, of course, difficulty breathing and it gets more severe. as the disease progresses, it's more difficult to breathe, and usually that's when people seek medical attention. >> it can be deadly. >> one in four die from it. >> is there a treatment option. >> there's no vaccine, there was a lot of talk during s.a.r.s. about making a vaccine, but it

ended before a vaccine was produced. this way reignite interest. it's rare enough scrks if people take the right precaution, avoiding contact, if they are health care workers, close family members, taking good hygienic courses, washing hands, taking hospital precautions, i think you'll be safe. >> professor stephen morse noticed that it is spread through close contact with an infected person. president obama is due to visit arkansas for a look at tornado damage. they spread through 30km. hundreds of homes destroyed, 15 killed. >> south-west airlines showed off new shelters for employees. they were installed next to the

airlines reservation hub, equipped with lights, airconditioning, data and telephone connectivity. >> in uganda 13 years after a boy was forced to become a child soldier, he is returning home a man. malcolm webb was there for his emotional journey. >> when he was 10 years old dennis was abducted from his village by rebels from the lords resistance army, that was in 2001. he was forced to become a child soldier and commit atrocities. it was 13 years before he could escape. >> many children were beaten to death. have you to follow the orders else they kill you. children that tried to escape were killed. you have to follow orders until a chance comes to escape. >> in recent weeks this center run by this subdivision was its home. at the peak of the wore hundreds of soldiers came through here.

an estimated 10,000 are missing. most of them will never come home. a trickle of former child soldiers escape. now grown adults. it's christine's job to counsel them. >> such killing, witnessing is a problem. psychologically they keep recalling. dennis completed his counselling and it is time to go home. he was a boy when he last saw his family and neighbours. since then he was forced to march hundreds of kilometres across four different economies. he escaped to the central african republic. he says he has seep and done -- seen and down many things he doesn't want to talk about. many child soldiers were forced to kill relatives and neighbours. they are scared to go home and do not know how people will react. 2km from dennis's village people come running. he's made to tread on an egg - a

ritual of reconciliation. there's no grudges here. he's safe. >> reporter: all of the people from the surrounding villages came to join the celebration. people are singing, waving branches. almost everyone here had thought dennis had died. his parents carried out the funeral ritual in the absence of a body. now that he's home and alivar 13 years in the bush, people are delighted. >> then he arrives. thousands of the abducted children were killed. no one thought he would make it. despite its abundant sunshine research shows 4 million australians are not getting enough vitamin d. researchers at the royal melbourne hospital are baffled. andrew thomas reports from melbourne. >> for decades people were told overexposure to the sun can

cause skin cancer. australia has some of the highest rates, but also rising is a number of people with low vitae man d. 4 million australians have a mild vitamin d deficiency. >> clair is taking part in a study to work out how much sun is the right amount. clair has osteoperosis which could shatter in a fall later in life. her levels of vitamin d needed to help the body absorb calcium are lower than they should be. >> i'm careful about how much sun i was getting because i didn't want to risk skin cancer later in life. i can see when i'm in the sun a lot my skip can get -- skin can get pink and i don't like the way it looks. and the premature ageing is important to girls my age. i was careful with it. >> what researchers are trying to find out is how many like

clair are vitae men d defimpt. >> the -- defirnalt. >> the ones people are aware of is osteoperosis, rickets in children, poor muscle health. diabetes, infection, cardio vascular disease. hopefully we can achieve invite min d levels. a reason for australia levels of vitamin d is increasing use of sun cream. you've radiation does not make it through. immigration is playing a part. more people who, for cultural reasons, cover up. >> because of the lack of experience of sun light vitamin d deficiencies is an issue. a lot of people are raising awareness in the muslim community. there's increased awareness hopefully leading to increased vit mip d levels. >> it helps to explain why some of the highest levels of vitamin

d deficiency is in the east. >> reporter: when it comes to sun shine, there's a fine line between too much and not enough. this study aims to produce definitive advice on how to get the balance right.. the government of uruguay released details on the new legal marge programme. the government -- marijuana program. the government will legg ou late what -- regulate what can be planted. residents will be able to purchase pot for $1 a gram. they legalized marijuana hoping to reduce drug-related violence. it goes into effect on tuesday. >> in italy flooding killed one person. local residents are trapped in their homes. streets you see there have been turned into riff. police are urging people to stay inside and to move to upper floors. still ahead on al jazeera america - the end of braille.

when the method of reading for blind people may become a thing of the past.

welcome back. one of america's contaminated body of waters is in new york city. the gowanus canal. the $300 million clean-up is slated. before it's due to get under way. luxe condoe reporters want to build. >> kaelyn forde reports. >> katia kelly called this home, renovating a brown stone and raising two children. the neighbourhood she writes and loves has a history.

2km away it has the most tom irk water in america, the gowanus canal. >> worried about the fact that without understanding where i chose to live my life, i may have put myself and children at risk. >> since the 1870s gas plans and vackt ris -- factories dumped chemicals into the waterway. jospeh alexiou studied the history. >> there's a 1922 article saying $100 million of goods were shipment through the gowanus canal and they call it one of the shortest and dirtiest waterways. >> it flows into the new york harbour and has been popular for fishing. when rains overwhelm the plants, raw sewerage flows into the canal. >> here comes the garage. >> katia kelly knew the water was dirty, but not toxic. some of her neighbours thought

it was healing. >> some here thought the strong airways good for healing cup. >> that changed in 2010 when the environmental protection agency put it gowanus canal on its list. scientists found cancer causing chemicals. it's your witch's brew of contamination from the turn of the century until now. to give you a perspective of when we measure contamination. sometimes we measure it at parts per million, parts mer billion. in the case of gowanus canal, it's at parts per hundred. >> the epa estimates the clean-up will take $100,000. >> reporter: centuries of contamination gave the canal its colour and smell. despite the fact that the epa

clean-up is not under way real state developers are making plans for condos. >> a 300 million development known as gowanus green is slated to hope in 2017, with 744 units of housing. long-term resist departments want the canal cleaned up before it is built up. >> you'll have 12 storey condo glass buildings where people pay a lot of money, that are in flood zones. we think it is funny if it weren't so sad. . >> in a city where housing is as in demand as new york. stemming the tide is impossible. crossing the mexico border too the u.s. is dangerous. in an al jazeera ground-breaking series "borderland" six americans are making the dangerous journey. the series wraps up with a look at how they fared in the desert. >> reporter: two hours into the

hike kashana is feeling the strain. >> it's tough. it's hot. i think i obvious packed. i don't think people can do this for long. they have to be so careful. the rocks are slippery. there's no flat land. you have to be care. you are watching your feet for snakes and other critters, the rocks and branches, and you are stuck on both sides of your skin. it's hot, but you have to put something to cover your arms. it's a lot to think about. . >> come on, guys, sun shet is in a couple of hours. you don't want to get caught in the canyon. it's difficult to walk in daylight. if we are caught in the dark, it's bad. we have to move a little faster. >> i don't think i have been prepared at all for the crossing. you know, we mentally try to prepare, physically with the right clothing, nothing prepares you for this. we have seen backpacks and jackets and shirts along the way

where i guess people peeled it off or lost it. it seems if you look at the different articles of clothing, no one is prepared for the journey. . >> as you can see here, this is a good resting spot for immigrants. see all the bottles, it's a commonly used area providing shade and the cover for the border patrol when they do a fly over. >> you said it's a well travel area, the coyote know this part. >> they've been in existence for a long time, owned by the cartel. yes though the routes, how far to get on certain points and where the resting spots are. you can see it's used quite a bit. >> you can catch the season finale tomorrow night: for hundreds of years the blind and visually impaired

relied on braille to read and right. now its use is declining. tonya mosley reports on why. >> joyce shoemaker sits in front of her computer screen. she is not reading. instead she's listening. words are read back to her using an auto mated text to talk device. joyce shoemaker is blind. she has been progressively losing her vision since the age of 12, but has never learnt braille. thanks to technology joyce shoemaker believes she'll never have to. >> reading braille, i think, for me personally, i don't have the time for brain space, hoppsly. >> for -- honestly. >> for close to 200 years, the system of reading by touch is a standard way to learn to read and write. in the last decade it has fallen out of favour. fewer tan 10% of -- than 10% of 1.3 million blind center. >> it's a pathway for literacy,

it's reading and writing. think about raising a child. if they don't learn to read and write, that's a problem. >> danielle millersh is working with school districts and parents to teach younger generations that they miss learning important skills like spelling when they rely on high-tech devices. >> the problem lies in not teaching kids. you maybe have a generation that can't compose an email or read information in a database to do a job. so it's a joys, but if you don't learn it you don't have the choice. >> in the ag of convenience -- age of convenience danielle millersh admits braille may not be appealing. here is a copy of "twilt", the braille version is four volumes, this is the audio version. braille is expensive to public. libraries are investing in

digital braille which transfers text on screen to a keyboard. cheaper to produce, expensive for readers. they can cost up to 5,000. blind braille library researchers shannon curry says there'll be a reason to learn traditional braille. >> knowing braille is the way in which i'm literate in the way that knowing print means a person is literate. >> braille, it's believed, is vital to hold on to. it's one of the country's biggest parties. ♪ halfway home we'll be there ♪ by the morning . >> the people that worked to make sure hurricane katrina didn't ruin the big easy's legacy. plus, whether with kevin. >> and we look at the mid east where the heat is on. textures in the high 90s. details when i return.

welcome back. inspiring is a great way to describe what happened at kentucky derby. two men used their savings to breed a horse, a few weeks later this:. >> california chrome shines bright. >> the odds-on favourite california chrome wins the 14th version. steve coburn and perry martin invested $5,000 apiece to breed a mayor and stallion, the only horse they own. the nevada men who knew little about racing are on top of it. carkevin corriveau tracking your weather. >> over the last several weeks there has been a lot of rain. it is spring time. as well as the mountainous regions across the area is beginning to melt. there's a lot of snow melt,

rain. and in the last 24 hours in the nearby part of afghanistan it has been raining more. that's why the threat has been increasing in the area. it's prone to that activity. unfortunately over the next couple of days we expect to see more rain. i mentioned before the breaks temperatures across much of the mid west could be seen. really starting to rise. no clouds to speak of too much in the area. no rain in the area. look at the temperatures we are expecting to see form, into the high 90s. for many people, all the way from kansas oklahoma, and the texas panhandle. this is sunday. let's go to monday. temperatures remain. as we go towards tuesday, you notice this makes its way to the east. not a lot of relief in the area, and when you factor in the heat index, we are talking 104, 105 degrees.

we'll go another day towards wednesday. this area is hot. on wednesday we'll switch out the rain, the heat and go back into severe weather season. so we do expect to see thunder storms, tornado in this area. that will be the next trip. >> lot of changes ahead. >> 21 men and women received a hero said welcome when they returned home to kansas this week. >> they had just taken an honour flight. they are the veterans in washington d.c. it is a free flight offered to veterans. they visited war memorials taking the opportunity to remember and reflect. family members greeted them with home made signs as they are welcomed when they return from war. ask anyone what they think when you say new orleans, they'll probably say food, fun and music. [ ♪ music ] >> that's what the annual jazz

and heritage festival is about. it wraps up tomorrow. dozens of bands and thousands of music lovers. after nasser al khatter the music scope -- after hurricane katrina the music scene survived. we caught up with some that benefited from it. [ singing ] >> after katrina, new orleans was scattered around the country. i, for example - my wife and i lost everything we had. >> i didn't know what i was going do. there was no place to play in the city. [ singing ] >>. >> it was seven years ago in 2006 i was at a backyard party, a fundraiser.

[ singing ] >>. >> los angeles and john buteay were playing. >> i think we were trading songs. after the set a guy from california, came up and said "you guys are wonderful you should make a record." sarcastically i said "we can't even make rent, let alone a record. he smiled and said "how much do you need." >> paul said "e probably need $10,000. >> two weeks later he called and said "where do i send the check." he didn't say he wanted to hear the music or own it. he said "where do i send a check and promise me when your record comes back you repay. some people paid $5, but they really want to help new orleans. >> they paid the money back within a year. the idea was let's see if we can raise money for other artists

and lone it to them. that was the start of threathead records. >> we lone the money to musicians. they make the cd, the master, everything and are required to pay back within a year. >> a few struggled to pay back. i believe some of the musicians that struggled eventually will pay back. >> try and get the support through conventional, like, record companies and stuff like that is very, very difficult. especially in this day and aim. have you to do -- day and age. you have to do it yourself. and be fortunate to come across a group like thread house. >> for the eight years they have been doing this, they have raised $700,000, and released over 750 c.d.s. that is changing the face of new orleans music for generations to

come. >> by the way all the fun wraps up tomorrow. thanks for watching. i'm thomas drayton in new york. "consider this" is coming up next. have a great night. thanks for watching. sh . >> the c d.c. blocked by congress from studying gun violence. we are joined by a congress woman and n.r.a. woman who was a top doctor at the c d.c. is climate change leading to intergsal conflict. do animal lovers put pets before people. we'll be joined by a dare devil not long before he leapt off the world's tallest building. >> i'm antonio mora, welcome to "consider this," here is more on what is ahead.